Display stands



United States Patent D I S PLAY STANDS Leon Best, Galva, 111., assignor to John H. Best &

This invention relates to display stands, and in par ticular to a display standfor displaying rug samples or the like.

The display of rug samples or the like is conveniently accomplished in many instances by means of a floor mounted stand such as of the easel type, and the stand includes structure at the top thereof enabling a plurality of the rug samples to be suspended therefrom. A common form of arrangement is one wherein the samples are advantageously turned from one side of the stand to the other to expose entirely a particular rug sample for inspection. It is of course of advantage to be able to easily turn thesamples in the foregoing manner and to remove samples from or add samples to the stand. To do so requires simple suspendenstructure that can be easily and readily opened and closed to enable substitution or re moval of samples to be effected, and at the sarne'time such suspender-structure must allow for free turning movement of samples from one side of the stand to the other; and the accomplishment of these modes of handling displayed samples'or the like in a convenient manner is the primary object of the present invention.

I Specifically the objectof the present invention is to afforded have inner ends, preferably atthe tops thereof,

with surfaces adapted to complementally mate to close the ring, and a slidable coupler is afforded to couple and join the inner ends of the ring half sections to hold the ring closed. Sp'ring detents are provided in the extensions of the aforesaid ring half sections, and the arrangement is such that upon release of a detent the coupler can be slipped to a ring releasing position enabling the ring to be opened. 'By utilizing ac'oupler in the form of a thin walled tube, the rug samples can be supported on the ring by grommets or eyelets of the usual kind having diameters of slightly larger diameter than the coupler so that the rug samples can be easily passed over the coupler when it is desired to turn a sample from one side of the stand to the other. r t Other and further objects of thepresent invention will be; apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of 2,907,468 Patented o r. 6, 955

Fig. 2 is a partial end elevation of the stand on menlarged scale; Fig. 3 is a partial'sectional view on an enlarged scale showing aspects of the coupler structure;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4p4of Fig.3;and Fig. 5 is a top planyiew of the support'blocle for either ring.

The present invention as illustrated-in Fig, l of'the drawing is embodied in a display stand 10 preferably of the easel type-including a pair of'spaced apart flat support panels 11 and'12 which are secured in anylsuitable fashion at their upper ends to aspacer 13.- As shown in Fig. 2, the spacer 13 has sloping front andlrearfacesso' that the support panels Hand 12 diverge in a downward direction for stability. In the present instance, the 'stand 10 is 1 arranged for floor mounting and the panels 11 and 12 include feet as 17 and 18 secured to the lower edges thereof. The stand 10 isjil lu'strative of one stand in which the present invention-maybe embodied, and it will be appreciated that in this regardjthepresent invention may take different forms. For exam le the support panels 11 and "12 can be replaced by suitable structure aifor'din g the desired back -up support for the rug or other sampleto be displayed. a i e As shown in Fig. =1, a plurality of rug samples,R1, R-Z. and R-3, are all on theside of the stand represented by the panel 11. 3 These samples includealong the'upper marginal edge portion grommets, eyeletsorhooks ofthe usual fashion for enabling the sariiples' tob'esiispended from" elliptical-display rings or" loops 20 which will be describedwith greater detail herein below. The-rings 20 it will be noted are identical in' construction and include symmetrical-left and right hand'portions whichprloject outwardly of the'respective outer facesjof the supportsll and 12, which is to say that in respect to the opposite sid es of the stand the ringsf20 are projected anddisposedsym metrically in all respects. j l During the course of inspection" of samples-supported on the stand such as the rugs-mentioned aboveiit is often desirable that an underneath sample be closely examined as to texture," quality and design, Under such circumstances, the topmost "samples "that are not uiider con: sideration can be lifted bodily'pr individually a d turned on the rings 20 from one side ofjthe; stand to the other. Moreover, the present invention enables individual samples to be easily removed from the stand'or supple,-

the present invention and the principle thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplatedapplying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the. same or equivalent principle may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by thoseskilled in the art without departing from mental samples tobe added thereto, and the ring structure enabling this to be accomplished will now be "descijbe'di As best shown in Fig. 2, each ring 20 in the stand is in a generallyvertical plane aiid embodies'half sections H-1 and H2. Each sluch'lialfsectionis 'ofone-lpiece construction and includes alowerleg portion 25,-2111 up per leg portion 26 and aninte'rinediate loop'or bight por}, tion 27, The lower legjpor'tions 25 in each instance are directed upwardly at air-angle relative toTthe "vertical, proceeding in a direction away from the' oiit er face of the relatedsupport 11 or 12. Moreover, the lower leg portions 25 are straight 1 rather than curved,, and enables the samples such as'the rugs mentioned above to be supported thereon in a generally straight forward leaved fashion in contrast to the somewhathu p on a ring of tightly curved form, Thusjthe lowerl leg portions 25 serve as the primary support for the rug or; like samples, and the grommets or like ringclaspingelements embodied in thesamples are hookedonto the rings 20 by opening the rings in away to begapparent from the can be conveniently acco plished by securing the lower ends of the leg portions 25 in blocks 30, Fig. lfthat' are 3 secured in spaced relation to the upper face of the spacer 13. It will be appreciated that such attachment of the rings to the stand is exemplary of one embodiment. Thus, the lower faces .of the blocks 30 are tapped and a pair of elongated fastening screws 33 and 34,;Fig. 2, are passed upwardly through the spacer 13 and have the threaded ends thereof screwed in to the tapped openings of theblocks 30 to rigidly secure the blocks 30 to the upper face of the spacer 13. I

Preferably, one of the ring half sections H1 is fixedly secured in the related block 30. To this end, an outer face of the mounting block is drilled at 35 at an angle corresponding to the angle of the corresponding leg portion 25 of the ring half section H-l that is to be fixedly mounted as aforesaid. The lower end of the ring half section H-1 is provided with an aperture, and a retainer pin 37 is pressed therein by passing the retainer pin37 through openings 39, Fig. 5, in the block 30 that register with the aforementioned aperture formed in the lower leg 25 of' the ring shalf section H-1. The lower end of the other ring half section H4 is pivotally mounted to the :stand, and to this end the side of the block 30 oppositethe bore 35 is provided with a milled slot 40, Fig. 5, having a curved lower face enabling the lower leg portion of the ring half section H-z to be easily turned therein. The opposed faces of the mounting block 30 corresponding tothe milled slot 40 are provided with drilled openings 41, Fig. 5, enabling a pivot pin 42, Fig. 2, to be passed therethrough and through an aligned aperture formed in the lower end of the lower leg portion of the ring half section 1-1-2. As shown by dotted lines 4 engage the opposed outer ends of each coupler 50 to maintain the coupler in the desired ring closing position.

7 When it is desired to open a particular ring, the coupler is slipped along the upper leg portion of one of the ring half sections in either a left or right hand direction as desired and as viewed in Fig. 2 by manually pressing inwardly the corresponding ball detent 52 and slipping the coupler therepast.

As was mentioned, the particular stand of Fig. l is illustrative of one embodiment of the invention, and typical of other embodiments of the invention is the kind of stand shown in my applicaiton Ser. No. 530,045 filed August 23, 1955.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and I therefore donot wish to be limited to theprecise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of'the following claims.

'1 claim:

1. In a floor mountable easel-type display stand of the kind described and including back-up supports, a pair of spaced apart suspender rings mounted on said stand adjacent the top thereof and on which such samples are adapted to be suspended from the rings for display purposes, said rings each being disposed in vertical planes and having split sections with lower leg portions extended in Fig. 2, the ring half section H-2 is adapted to be easily turned on the pin 42 to open the ring.

Under the present invention, the upperleg portions 2 6 of the .ringhalf sections are straight and are disposed in horizontal planes in contrast to the angled disposition of the lower leg portions 25. As shown in Fig. 3, the inner ends of the upper leg portions 26 are provided with complemental surfaces which are adapted to mate when the right hand half section H-Z as viewed in Fig. 2 is turned inwardly from its dotted line position to cause the inner end thereof to engage the opposed inner end of the opposed ring half section H-l. In the present instancesuch complemental surfaces are afforded by generally right-angled milled surfaces MF-1 andMF-Z on the respective half sections to afford in effect a half-flap joint. The left hand ring section H-l having the milled face MF-l is further provided with a rectangular slot 45 in the milled longitudinal face thereof, and the right hand ring section H-2 is provided with a complemental dog 46 adapted to snap therein when the free inner ends of the ring half sections are forcefully engaged as shown .in Fig. 3.

v To hold the rings closed, and to enable the rings to be opened when desired, releasable couplers in the form of tubular sleeves 50 are slidably mounted on the upper leg-portions 26 of the related half sections of each ring. Thus, thecouplers 50'are each in the form of a tube havingan inner. diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the upper leg portions 26 of thering half sections, and when in normal holding position the couplers 50 surround the engaged inner ends thereof as shown particularly in Fig. ,3. In order to releasably hold the couplers SOi-noperative position, releasable locks in the form of spring .detents are provided at spaced points in the two u per leg portions 26 of the ring half sections, and these detents are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the length of each coupler 50. Thus, the upper leg 26 of' each ring half section is provided with a bore 51 as shown particularly in Fig. 4. A ball 52 is disposed in the bore 51, and the outer free edge of the bore 51' is peened over at 511 to clasp the ball 52 and hold the ball 52 in the bore 51 in the usual fashion. Each ball 52 is urged outwardly in the bore 51 by a coil spring 55 of the usual Kiud,.:and normally the balls' 52 are urged outwardly to outwardly of the forward faces of said back-up supports and upwardly at an angle to enable such samples to be suspended thereon in leaved fashion, said sections each including straight upper leg portions connected to said lowerleg portions by loop portions enabling samples to be turned on, removed from and added to saidrings, at

least one such section of each ring being pivotally mounted at its lower end on said stand, the upper leg portions of said half sections each having ends joinable to close the rings, and releasable tube-shaped couplers slidably mounted on each ring for coupling said joinable ends.

2. Ina display stand of the kind described, means affording a pair of generally back-to-back easel type floorsupportable back-up supports for ,rug samples or the like to be displayed on both sides of the stand for selective inspection, spacer means rigidly connecting said supports so that said supports lie in planes that diverge from top to bottom of the stand, spaced apart suspender rings mounted on said spacer means and on which such samples are adapted to be suspended for display purposes, said rings each being disposed in a generally vertical plane and each having a first split half section at one side of the stand with a substantially straight lower leg portion extended outwardly of the forward plane of one of said back-up supports at one side, of the stand and upwardly at an angle thereto, said rings each having a second split half section at the other side of the'stand with a substantially straight lower leg portion extended outwardly of the forward plane of the other of said back-up supports and upwardly at an angle thereto at the other side of the stand to enable such samples to be suspended vertically on both the rings at both sides of the stand in leaved fashion, said half sections of each ring each including generally horizontal upper leg portions connected to said lower leg portions by forward loop portions enabling samples to be turned on, removed from and added to said rings, one of said half sections of each ring being pivotally mounted at its lower end on said stand for swinging movement in. a vertical plane and projecting above said spacer meansand the other half section of each ring being fixed at its lower end on said stand and projecting above said spacer means, the upperleg portions of said half sections of each ring having complemental mating surfaces at the free ends thereof adapted to be joined to close the rings, couplers for each ring for coupling said mating ends, each such coupler. being in the form of a References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 310,301 Miller Ian. 6, 1885 6 Mott June 2, 1891 Erb July 26, 1904 Erickson Dec. 18, 1917 Brumfield Sept. 6, 1921 Nachtrieb Nov. 6, 1923 Pepper Oct. 29, 1935 Ericson Oct. 14, 1952 Kramer Mar. 26. 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Austria Feb. 10, 1903 

